Man Sentenced for Threatening
Federal Witness
United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt
announced that Kent Douglas Trego was sentenced today
for having threatened a volunteer of the Animal Protection
and Rescue League (APRL). Trego pled
guilty on April 17, 2008 to Count One of the Indictment,
which charged him with threatening to retaliate against
a federal witness, in violation of Title 18, United
States Code, Section 1513(b)(2). Trego has been held
without bail since his arrest. Considering that Trego,
at the time of sentencing, had served approximately
4.5 months in custody, the Honorable Roger T. Benitez,
United States District Judge, sentenced Trego to serve
five years of supervised probation. As part of probation,
Trego must spend 180 days on GPS-monitored house arrest.
The Court also required Trego to undergo 52 weeks of
mental health counseling, including anger management
and submit to drug and alcohol counseling and testing.
Trego must keep away from the La Jolla Children’s
Pool and cannot use a computer unless it is monitored
by the U.S. Probation Department.
According to Assistant U. S. Attorney Mitch Dembin,
who prosecuted the case, Trego admitted in court that
on September 22, 2007, he accompanied two scuba divers
on to the beach at the La Jolla Children’s Pool.
The scuba divers proceeded into the water, causing
approximately 18 of the approximately 50 harbor seals
resting on the beach to flush into the water. A volunteer
of the APRL videotaped these activities. After the
divers entered the water, the APRL volunteer recorded
the license plate number of the vehicle in which the
divers arrived. The volunteer and Trego exchanged words
at that time and the volunteer reported the entire
transaction to federal law enforcement agents of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
After an investigation, the two divers were identified
and ticketed for misdemeanor violations of the Marine
Mammal Protection Act, Title 16, United States Code,
Section1362, et seq. The tickets were issued on December
31, 2007 and January 11, 2008. Trego admitted that
the divers told him that they had been ticketed. On
January 12, 2008, using a publicly-accessible computer
at the Riford Library in La Jolla, Trego, using the
online identity “Biker Bobbie,” composed
and sent an electronic mail to the APRL (info@aprl.org)
. The mail was sent from the account “ deathtosealwatch@yahoo.com
,” created by the defendant on December 1, 2007,
and used to issue two previous threatening communications
to the APRL and to another APRL volunteer. The previous
threats were sent on December 1 and December 5, 2007.
The mail on January 12, 2008, had the subject line “Revenge
on [witness],” and the text of the message, excluding
the name of the APRL volunteer, was as follows:
Two divers who used the Children's Pool in September
have been cited by federal wildlife marshalls for disturbing
the seals. [Witness] was apparently the one who turned
them in.
The problem is now that revenge will be taken out
on [witness]. Many of the local divers have close friends
in the California motorcycle clubs. As is this case,
motorcycle club members have been contacted about [witness]
and [he/she] will be dealt with very harshly, if [he/she]
is not killed.
They know that if [he/she] is not in San Diego, [he/she]
may be found in San Francisco. Either San Diego or
Oakland hit hogs will be involved in [his/her] punishment.
[He/She] has brought this on [himself/herself].
This communication was received by the APRL, which
reported the threat to federal authorities. Trego admitted
that his intent in transmitting the threat was to retaliate
against the APRL volunteer for providing information
to federal authorities, resulting in the tickets issued
to the divers.
This case was investigated by Special Agents of the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA, UCSD
Police, and the Violent Crime and Cybercrime Squads
of the San Diego Division of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
DEFENDANT Case Number: 08cr0618-BEN
Kent Douglas Trego
SUMMARY OF CHARGE
Title 18, United States Code, Section 1513(b)(2) -
Threatening a Federal Witness
AGENCIES
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Federal Bureau of
Investigation
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
University
of California (San Diego) Police Department
